Cured
by not.in.hufflepuff
Summary: What happens when all the Pokemon disappear? What happens when the whole world has hatred towards all Pokemon? What happens when two sworn enemies team up together to save the world?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi! This is my first Pokemon FanFiction and I hope you guys really like it. I don't know what to say other than read and review! Thank you to my Beta InvalidPen. This guy is very amazing and enjoy my story! Remember to review!

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><p>I stood in the quiet, dismal cemetery reflecting on the last eighteen years of my life. I somberly stared at what once was Charmander, my fiery little ball of energy. The service was short, nice, memorable; I was the only one who attended.<p>

These days it was pretty much just me and Charmander, or now just me alone. I no longer had friends, or family. My parents and friends had been "cured," or at least that's what the government was calling it. I was one of the few hundred out of billions who knew what really happened. _Cured._ That's what they were calling it. More like brain-washed. That day stood out to me near and clear; shall we call it the day my own personal hell was born, left to burn in my mind? A pit the size of a 20 ton boulder resides in my stomach, day by day; a memory gnawed at my soul, and it was that of how I just watched behind a wall, cowering while my parents were defenselessly deadened. Well not exactly, but that's how it felt. All their values vanished, all their love washed away, all replaced by a hatred for Pokémon.

That day, it was only just approaching noon when I noticed instead of a bright, cloudless, cerulean, the heavens were a stormy, ashy, haze of purples and reds. I had just come back from Pewter City with my beloved Pokémon, Charmander. We were training to go against the Elite Four on our trek to the most coveted Victory Road. Charmander had been acting strange the entire time, and I had decided to cut the trip short. _Hey, everyone acts a little strange, every now and then,_ I thought.

However, it never dawned on me until we were about a mile from the Pallet town city hall that maybe, just maybe, Charmander knew something was wrong. My little lizard Pokémon always had a certain premonition sometimes when things happened. For instance, if I was going to win a prize he acted excited prior to the aforementioned prize-giving, or when there was bad news in the future he usually sulked around that day and if a wild Pokémon was somewhere, lurking around us he was literally on his toes. But for some reason, I pushed it away and kept going.

When we had reached the golden city gates, once embellished with sapphires and rubies, we found it was no longer a beautiful masterpiece, but a smoldering pile of twisted metal. At that moment, all of my fears washed into me, and I had instantly regretted not paying more attention to my Pokémon. The mixture of dread, pain, and fear swarmed around and sickened me as I watched my childhood home crumble to the ground.

Swarms of people cried and screamed as they ran throughout the town; helicopters, airplanes, but mostly flying Pokémon I had never even seen before shot burn embers at them. As they collapsed, the people cried out in search of help as the reflection of the cruel-looking Pokémon engulfed their eyes. I watched outside of the city, fear stricken to my very core.

A single person made it out, running past me in my peripheral, but I was too frozen at the peril I was seeing to even ask if he was okay, let alone turn to look at him. A Sonic Boom knocked me off of my feet, and smashed my face into the red dirt. It awoke me from my frozen stupor. After getting back on my feet unsteadily, I realized Charmander had disappeared from my side. Panic registered in my mind along with millions of scenarios of what could have possibly happened to my beloved friend. I frantically scanned the area with my eyes when a red dot appeared in my vision next to two fallen people, seniors. I instantly recognized Charmander with my parents.

My screams broke through the air, and thrashed about trying to run to through gates of Pallet Town. Alas, it had already been sealed with a raging wall of fire. I could not handle this. My knees felt like two lifeless sticks of Jell-O as they quivered and jerked in spasms. The heat was becoming unbearable, and I soon found myself sinking down to the ground as the world turned a deathly black all around me.


	2. Chapter 2

As I roamed the land of Kanto, I saw more and more towns were becoming either completely decimated or were plastered with propaganda featuring Jessie, James, and their sinister cat Pokémon, Meowth.

While passing through Cerulean City I was at first glad it had not been destroyed along with my beloved Pallet Town, but I soon realized it was worse.

The town was no longer booming with life. What once was a bright, glowing cerulean was now barely periwinkle, the seas were not singing with glee, and Misty's gym was bored up with plywood; there was no sign that a tomboyish mermaid had ever been there. As with my home, Cerulean City was absolutely warped.

The city felt lifeless even though I saw people on the street; they all were stiff, almost robotic in a sense. Each one had their own face, their own hairstyle. Everything about each one looked different, but at the same they all were the same. They carried themselves with the same walk, their expressions were stoic. No one would talk to me. Whenever I tried to catch someone's attention, they all walked away muttering about something oddly vague. _Mission… Pokémon… Win… _

I almost collapsed in the road when I reached my oldest friend in Cerulean. Old Man Watson was hovering over something in the street, cackling with glee. For a second I got scared and approached him apprehensively. That 20 ton boulder came back in my stomach as I grew closer to him. When I reached him he was holding two rods and laughing over a smashed pile of wood. I took a closer look and I caught my breath when I realized it was his best fishing pole. Who was this man? He looked like Watson, sounded like Watson, and was wearing Watson's clothes, but this was _not_ the old man I knew.

I tried to get attention by touching his back. He immediately got rigid and stood up straight. I braced myself as he turned around with a menacing smile.

"Watson! Watson! Remember me Ash, Ash Ketchum?" I shouted even though I knew he could hear me perfectly well.

A feeling of terror held by body in paralysis as I waited for his answer hoping for a, "Yes Ash, of course I remember."

Instead I got, "The skies can hear us boy, I'd do my best to watch myself and protect myself from meddling Pokémon." And he walked away.

Meddling Pokémon? How could he have said that? That was the man that helped me catch my first Magikarp. Certainly he could never be anti-Pokémon. And then I saw it all around me. Never had I realized there were slogans or lines underneath the Team Rocket Posters, but there, right in front of my eyes was a life-size, cardboard cutout of Jessie and James. Underneath it read, "Protect Yourself, The End Could Be Near," another said, "Never trust a Pokémon…Ever!" I could not believe my eyes. It was terrifying. How did it happen so fast? How did they do this? But the question that was aching my brain was,_ Why am I not like this?_


	3. Chapter 3

The facts were becoming more and more blurred in every new city I reached. I thought that I was trying to find out what was happening but all these weeks of walking had turned into aimless wandering. All the cities were destroyed just like my home; fire. But I never met anyone since Cerulean. My last encounter with any human was weeks ago with Old Man Watson. They were the lucky ones. At least there were a few hundred still alive. But ever since then, I felt I did not know anything anymore.

That trip had changed everything I thought I knew. But a few things were still crystal for me: 1. My name was Ash Ketchum 2. I used to live in Pallet Town but it was destroyed in a fire along with my parents and Pokémon 3. This is Team Rocket's Fault.

For the past two weeks it has been getting hard to survive. I feel fatigued every second, my bones crying out for rest, my throat was a burning incendo. The scorched remains of towns could no longer be scavenged for remains and I was running out of supplies. My last sliver of hope was diminishing because I knew I could no longer survive if I didn't find food to tame the hunger in side of me in the next week. My head was telling me go home, you can't make it out here. But I knew I had no home, where could I go? There was no place for me; I couldn't keep assuming a town would be still surviving like Cerulean, if they were even still alive. I pressed on, though my head disagreed, my heart and stomach was telling me there could be a place if I went looking for it. So I did. The angel and devil on my shoulders were always fighting with each other though. "Turn back, it's no use", the devil would say. "Press on Ash, have some faith," the angel would tell me.

After a few more days of nothing more than burned weeds, I was ready to call it quits and give up. I thought I could but in reality, it was impossible. There was nothing! I would never find civilization I would die of starvation. "I wish I could just die right now!" I shouted to the heavens. And like magic I had collapsed out of hunger and exhaustion. I knew this was the end; the end of my eighteen short years. I would never do the things I always wanted to. My Pokedex would remain incomplete, I would never marry my dream girl, I would never meet my dream girl, and I would die alone. At that moment the pain was too unbearable, the realization hit me and I broke down. This couldn't be happening to me, how cliché I though as I wept uncontrollably. At that instant I wished I could escape, fall into nothingness so I don't have to feel anymore. I was growing weak, both in mind and body. The darkness was coming closer and I reached out to embrace it head on. Then nothing…

The next morning, or maybe it was still night, I don't know I couldn't see, came groggily to me. I had no idea how many hours I had been laying on the ground. Was I blind? Everything was pitch black; there was no light, not even a tiny crack. Maybe I was still dreaming; I hoped I was still dreaming because if not, I really was messed up. I've got to stop wishing for things. I reached out grabbing fistfuls of air. I touched myself, two arms, two legs, a face, thank God. I'm ok. I lunged out trying to get up and wobbly stand. _Please see, please don't be blind Ash, open your eyes Ash_ I chant over and over again. My eye twitches and slowly opens. I gleam of sun is streaming down through the treetops. Oh Lord, thank you God, I've found religion. I jump in the air. Too soon, I come crashing down on the ground. Just as I was finally moved one step, I jumped back four steps where I came from.

I can't believe this, I really and going to die. I think I might have broken my ankle. The pain is searing through my veins. I am lying in my solitary hell hole, wishing the last few months could be wished away. Here I am dying, in the middle of the woods, alone, and no one will ever know. I hope my parents can't see me right now from the heavens. They would be disappointed. I am Ash Ketchum; they raised me better than this, I know I will prevail! I tried to get up, but I fell with a plop right back down in the leaves. Frustration rolled across me in bullets. I tried again, shakily, my knees threatening to send me down again. I held out my arms, trying to balance myself. This was near impossible right now, my hunger was at its peak, my bones were worn out; I felt like an eighty year old man. After violently shaking, my nerves calmed down and I was standing on two feet. I tested myself, shifting my weight carefully. Luckily my ankle was not broken, but it could still be sprained. I took one step, luck washed over my entire body, I could feel the joy spreading from my fingers to the tips of my toes. I took one step at a time; slow and steady wins the race. About 10 minutes later of nothingness, I am on the brink of once again giving up, I reach my joyous moment, a sign: Celadon City up ahead. Words cannot describe the feel of me at this moment. Hope, determination, joy, excitement…love. Maybe this is my sign. Ash Ketchum will prevail.


End file.
